Making A Difference

Anyone can make a difference every day and in every activity. I witnessed a young man who made a difference in the lives of another young man, his mother, me and anyone else who witnessed the unselfish act that I witnessed.

I was at my son's baseball game and I had my heart refreshed. The game was close and every run counted. A young boy swung the bat and hit a ball out past 2nd base. He ran with all of his might. As hard as he ran the outfielder threw harder. The ball made it to the first baseman's glove before the boy made it to the base. The umpire cried "OUT" and a disappointed boy walked dejectedly back to the dug out. The young 1st baseman called out to his coach "Coach I didn't tag the runner." His coach replied "I will take care of it." The game was 2-1 with the team at bat down by 1 point. The coach called out to the umpire and said "Hey Ump my player did not tag out the runner." The Umpire replied "OK the runner is safe on 1st base." The young boy came out to the 1st base grinning. The first baseman just shrugged. After that part of the inning was over his mother approached her son in the dug out and told him "Son I have never been prouder of you, it's not win at all cost but being honest at all cost." I have never been more impressed with anyone.

Every day we hear and see how important winning is. No one ever says how important honesty is.  Every day the value of honesty gets attacked. More and more people confess to being less than honest. As a teacher I stress honesty, but too often if a parent is called to school because their child has been dishonest and or cheating, the parent fails to see that their child has done anything wrong. I am among the remaining few who value honesty. This young man and his mother made a difference in my life. They offered me hope that honesty still is important. They showed by example that doing the right thing is always right. May we always be willing to make a difference.